Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam makes point of taking English questions after backlash and apology over blunt response
Chief executive even singles out reporter from English-language media outlet who was trying to be heard
One week after Hong Kong’s leader apologised for her blunt remarks suggesting she was sidelining the use of English, she made it a point to respond to questions in the language during her weekly Tuesday meeting with the press.
During the 23-minute question-and-answer session, Lam also obliged a request to repeat an English answer in Chinese.
Carrie Lam’s perfect storm over status of English in Hong Kong
Last Tuesday, she ruffled feathers with her reply to a government radio reporter’s question in English.
Smiling but sounding impatient, Lam said she had already given an answer in Cantonese, and while she would say it again in English, the director of information services, Cathy Chu Man-ling, should come up with a “better arrangement” so she would not have to repeat herself.
“In future, we’d better arrange simultaneous interpretation for this media stand-up, because I [keep] on repeating the answers … I have answered exactly the same question in Cantonese, so I’m going to repeat what I said in Cantonese. But in future, the director of information services may consider a better arrangement so that we don’t need to waste time,” Lam said, before answering the question in English.
There was a backlash from the city’s English-speaking community, which is used to the regular practice of reporters asking government officials to repeat answers in English for the benefit of the non-Chinese media. Critics also asked whether she was no longer going to take questions in English, an official language in Hong Kong along with Chinese.
This resulted in the leader issuing a late-night apology for “any confusion” caused by her remarks.
Lam apologises for impatience with reporter’s English question
She assured Hongkongers she had no intention of changing the format of her media briefings on Tuesdays, and stressed that neither she nor the government had attached less importance to the use of English.
“There should be no doubt about my commitment to responding to questions from reporters in the same language that the question is asked,” she added.
“Can you repeat in Chinese what you’ve said in English?” the TVB reporter asked.
Lam immediately switched to Cantonese and repeated her answer.
She also made sure to devote equal attention to the different language media – taking questions from four reporters altogether, two representing English outlets and two from Chinese media.
